Judge's order for Trump special master is deeply flawed, legal experts say

[mahatmakanejeeves]

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Judge’s order for Trump special master is deeply flawed, legal experts say

Analysts said Judge Aileen Cannon's ruling will be difficult for federal investigators to carry out, but an appeal could slow the Justice Department's probe to a lengthy crawl.

Sept. 6, 2022, 10:31 PM EDT / Updated Sept. 7, 2022, 9:42 AM EDT
By Dareh Gregorian and Ryan J. Reilly

A judge's order approving a special master to review documents the FBI took from former President Donald Trump's Florida home is a deeply flawed and unworkable mess, legal experts told NBC News on Tuesday. {snip} Legal experts blasted the overall ruling and questioned how it could be implemented, while warning that an appeal by the government could drag the investigation out further.

“I think it’s a corrupt decision. I think it is a special law just for Donald Trump by a Trump appointee, and it is unmoored from precedent, insupportable in law, will not be approved of by anybody who isn’t a Trump fanatic,” said Paul Rosenzweig, a Department of Homeland Security official under former President George W. Bush. ... “It is supremely disappointing, because up until now … the courts have been the last bulwark against excess, and this decision suggests that at least some of Trump’s judges put loyalty to the man over loyalty to the rule of law, and that’s deeply unfortunate,” said Rosenzweig, who was senior counsel to Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.

Bradley Moss, a lawyer who specializes in national security issues, said that Cannon's decision is “not well-founded in any law or legal theory” and that it included “far better advocacy for the former president’s legal position than anything his actual lawyers put forward.” ... “My view is that, at a minimum, the Justice Department is going to have to appeal” the part of the order that temporarily stops the Justice Department from using the seized documents to proceed with its criminal investigation, Moss said. ... But, he cautioned, an appeal is no easy path. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which would hear any appeal in this case, "has taken a particular conservative turn, and the U.S. Supreme Court is 6-3 in favor the conservatives,” Moss said. “It’s not a foregone conclusion they’d win on appeal.”

{snip}

Before becoming a federal judge, Cannon worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida, focusing on criminal cases in the appellate division that included money laundering, child pornography and Fourth Amendment rights, according to her judicial nomination questionnaire. Cannon, who graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2007, had no prior experience as a judge, but fit the profile of Trump's nominees: young and with ties to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization.

{snip}

[FarPoint]

1. So, how does the DOJ respond to a fictious like order?

I hope the Appeal id filed and it gets a legitimate Judge.

[VMA131Marine]

2. The big red flag for me with this judge

is that they brought legal arguments into her judicial order that the Plaintiffs i.e. Trump’s lawyers, themselves had not made. Instead of going by the explicit text of their arguments, she added her own interpretations and then embellished on them in her argument. That’s the definition of an activist and, indeed, biased judge.

[Srkdqltr]

3. And his judge and trumps people say, so what??

[MichMan]

4. Has anyone heard of any protests being planned at her house?

People need to show that lawless decisions like this will not be acceptable